Scientist, Mystic and... Astrologer - Arthur M. Young

Last week, at Quora I was prompted to a very brief rant about astrological skeptics. It went something like this:

"Skeptics on astrology are some of the most determined and vehement of all types of skeptics. My view is that it makes them feel superior - more intelligent, more logical, more… well, you know! That’s fine by me. Let ’em feel better if that’s all it takes."

Later, I happened upon an old post of mine, featuring a scientist who was also an astrologer - quelle horreur! I shall give it a re-run, ever so slightly edited.

Arthur M. Young was born in Paris, France, his American parents lived there at various periods, while his father, a landscape painter, studied Impressionism. I'm going to call Arthur M. Young AMY, from here on, for brevity and ease of typing. He was a mathematician and scientist first and foremost, and inventor of the first Bell Helicopter. It was later in life that he slid into philosophy, metaphysics, ESP, and even astrology. Shock horror - a scientist who was also an astrologer! Would that there were more of his ilk around today.

In Jeffrey Mishloves "An Appreciation of Arthur M. Young" he writes:

"Arthur was also a student of eastern mysticism and yoga...... was a master of astrology, and he enjoyed demonstrating its value with reference to my own chart. He did so in the most uncanny ways."

There's a website dedicated to AMY. It includes some of his essays, several of which mention his study of astrology, in fact one is dedicated to the subject.

THOUGHTS ON A SCIENCE OF LIFE
Part III: On the Value of Astrology for a Science of Life
by Arthur M. Young (1992)
In summing up his essay, AMY wrote:

To sum up: The rejection of astrology by science is based on the belief of science that there is no way for planets to influence life. This belief is opposed by the practitioners of astrology, who find a factual correlation between the position of the planets and the dates of important events in life.

But the principles on which physics is based do not predict or even accommodate life. Life requires a narrow temperature range and a periodic alternation of this temperature, and hence a very special environment, requiring a planetary system with a certain type of sun. This makes life depend on contingency rather than law, and indicates that while the laws of nature are necessary to life they are not sufficient.

Since alternation (periodic change) of temperature is necessary to the evolution of organic life in plants and animals, it would seem that the evolution of consciousness, which has its inception in organisms which move against entropy, should for its completion require an alternation of longer period than the daily or yearly alternation of temperature. This is what the outer planets supply.

As for the question of how the planets can influence mundane events, this problem already exists in biological rhythms, which have been found to be endogenous; that is, not dependent on known physical influence

That, I can (just about) understand. I'm not going to pretend that I understand his Theory of Process , his studies of consciousness and suchlike. I don't. It's all way over my head. His Theory of Process relies on a kind of wave-like effect which he considers applies to everything in one way or another, because it's the origin of everything, starting with "Light"..... (I think!)

There's more information at the Halexandria website:



Ahem (too deep for me) - quickly turning to AMY's chart then -

We should find prominent Saturn/Capricorn(mathematics and science) Uranus/Aquarius (invention and maybe astrology) and Jupiter/Sagittarius (philosophy)

Arthur M. Young born on 3 November 1905 in Paris, France. Astrodatabank gives his time of birth as 10.23am.

His Sun and Mercury in Scorpio remind me that Carl Sagan has these placements (but with even more Scorpio planets). As well as its reputation for eroticism, passion, paranoia etc. Scorpio has that incisive mentality (especially with Mercury there) which can cut through stuff which leaves the rest of us deeply confused. AMY's Scorpio Sun closely trines mystic Neptune in Cancer - here's his draw to mysticism - a draw which Carl Sagan didn't have.

Aquarius Moon trines Jupiter in Gemini. The harmony between invention and philosophy in AMY's life is here, for Jupiter is ruler of Sagittarius (his rising sign, and therefore Jupiter is his ruling planet) and it is in very helpful aspect to his inventive Aquarius Moon.

Now we come to more of what I was expecting to see: Saturn in Aquarius, and....Uranus in Capricorn. Aquarius, Capricorn, Uranus, Saturn - there's a peculiar link here.
Aquarius and Capricorn were originally both ruled by Saturn, modern astrology places Uranus as ruler of Aquarius, and in AMY's chart the planets swap homes, with Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Capricorn. I'm not sure how that can be interpreted except that it's a conglomeration involving mathematics and science(Saturn and Capricorn) invention and astrology (Uranus and Aquarius) - all kind of related to one another by marriage (as it were), bringing together two very different realms. In addition Moon in Aquarius is in helpful semi-sextile aspect to Uranus in Capricorn - a further blending of the two realms.

So, all in all, AMY's natal chart, even from my minimalist take on it, clearly matches his chosen paths in life.

It has been said that everything everywhere affects everything else.
This may be true.
Or perhaps the world is just full of patterns.
( Terry Pratchett in Wings)

Arty Farty Friday ~ Rocketeer & Artist Frank Malina

It' s interesting when art and science meet in the same individual - Frank Malina is a good example. He was born this day, 2 October in 1912, in Brenham, Texas, son of
son of Czech immigrants Frank Malina, a musician, and Caroline Marek.

From: Frank Malina - America's Forgotten Rocketeer by James L. Johnson:

What makes Malina’s story all the more compelling is that he was a man of great contradictions: A professed pacifist, he nevertheless designed powerful rockets to further the war effort. A communist sympathizer, he made a fortune through his stake in Aerojet. A consummate engineer, he opted to abandon his research career while still in his 30s and would eventually dedicate himself full-time to artistic pursuits. And yet, this sometimes deeply conflicted individual did more than anyone to legitimize the pursuit of rocket propulsion and to pave the way for others to pursue their paths to the stars.

Like most of the early rocketeers, Malina was drawn to the subject because rockets meant space travel. Born in 1912 in the tiny town of Brenham, Texas, Malina as a boy devoured Jules Verne’s classic From the Earth to the Moon, which vividly imagined an extraterrestrial trip. Even as an adolescent, Malina had an engineer’s mind-set. In a college essay on interplanetary travel, he enumerated the great difficulties that would need to be overcome, including the vast distances to traverse, the hostile atmosphere upon arrival, and the lack of any means of communication between that distant point and Earth.

And from an obituary and biography at langlois.org HERE

Dr. Malina was a rare combination of scientist-artist-editor-humanist. He was internationally famous for his work on early rocket development, his pioneering contribution to Kinetic Art, his creation and development of the journal Leonardo, and his lifelong efforts to promote international cooperation in science and technology and the visual arts.

Frank J. Malina obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1934. He became interested in rocket engineering in the 1930s, when rocketry and space travel were scoffed at as "science-fiction dreams". He obtained his Ph.D. in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech)  in 1940 with a thesis on rocket propulsion and rocket flight. In 1994, he was a co-founder, with the noted aeronautical engineer, Theodore von Kármán, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, California), and was its first director from 1944 to 1946. He conceived and directed the design, construction and testing of the United States' first successful high altitude sounding rocket, the WAC Corporal (White Sands, New Mexico, 1944-1945). From 1947 to 1953 he worked at UNESCO, Paris, as counsellor and head of the Division of Scientific Research. Until his death he was an active member of the International Astronautics Federation as well as the International Academy of Astronautics, both of which he helped to found. He was elected vice-president of the Academy of Astronautics in 1960 and president in 1963. He drew up a plan for a "Lunar International Laboratory" where astronauts, scientists and technologists from different countries could work together for peaceful purposes in space. He was awarded the French Prix d'Astronautique REP Hirsch in 1939, the C. M. Hickman award of the American Rocket Society in 1948, and the Order of Merit from the French Society for the Encouragement of Research and Invention in 1962.

Those persons who were fortunate to know Frank J. Malina, or work with him professionally, treasured their friendship for that modest, unassuming man whose entire life was guided by his respect for all peoples on earth regardless of race, religion or social condition. He had an abiding faith in human nature and the promise of international cooperation and international understanding as the best means to build the foundations of a lasting peace, and he bent all his efforts during the last 40 years of his life to promote those ideals in every way he could in science and the visual arts. He was truly a great Humanist, truly the International Man.

Dr Malina died in November 1981.

It's difficult to present his Kinetic artwork to good effect online. There are some videos at YouTube, but they're not really good enough. Two very brief samples are below, both of the same piece titled "Cosmos" created in 1965.

Regarding Dr Malina's artwork - see this article by Patrick McCray:

Malina was especially keen to introduce material from science and technology, particularly space exploration and astronomy, into contemporary visual arts. Even his early forays into painting incorporated “shock waves and fluid flow and paintings of airplanes and rockets.” As he moved away from traditional art techniques, Malina spent considerable time experimenting with new ways to create novel visual effects. In the mid-1950s, for example, Malina worked with a French electronics student to create what he called his Lumidyne technique. He made his first pieces using it in 1956.

ASTROLOGY

Frank Malina's natal chart - born 2 October 1912, in Brenham, Texas. Chart set for 12 noon, no time of birth available, so Moon's position and ascendant will not be accurate.

That Grand Trine linking Sun/Mercury (self and mental orientation) to Saturn (science) and to Uranus (invention, futuristic) forming a circuit in Air (well, one is Capricorn cuspy) signs says everything necessary about the rocketeering facet of his talent. His gravitation to art, and in particular to Kinetic Art is reflected, I think, in the opposition between Uranus (futuristic) and Neptune (creativity, imagination). This opposition of slow-moving planets was a generational alignment, but because Uranus links to personal planet Mercury by harmonious trine, and Neptune links to Mars and widely to Venus (planet of the arts) by less comfortable square aspects, the opposition is specifically drawn in to Malina's personality. Venus in square aspect to both Uranus and Neptune, perhaps loses some of the square aspect's sting because Neptune in late Cancer echoes the Watery element of Venus in Scorpio; and Uranus in Earthy Capricorn's last degree isn't totally alien to Scorpio Venus. That peculiar cuspy effect must be going on here.

The personality description given in a quote, above, bears repeating:

Those persons who were fortunate to know Frank J. Malina, or work with him professionally, treasured their friendship for that modest, unassuming man whose entire life was guided by his respect for all peoples on earth regardless of race, religion or social condition. He had an abiding faith in human nature and the promise of international cooperation and international understanding as the best means to build the foundations of a lasting peace, and he bent all his efforts during the last 40 years of his life to promote those ideals in every way he could in science and the visual arts. He was truly a great Humanist, truly the International Man.

Charming Libra Sun, quite possibly in trine to sociable Gemini Moon (can't be sure without time of birth), would cover much of that description. It does also sound very much like textbook descriptions of Aquarius - perhaps Aquarius was his rising sign.

I should also mention, after what came up from yesterday's post on Libra's fixed stars, that Dr Malina's Sun was conjunct Vindemiatrix - so... that star ain't always the herald of a harsh or difficult personality!

Minding Our Progress

Our great contemporary scientific geniuses are to be admired, one of these, Raymond Kurzweil about whom there's an archived post HERE - was mentioned in a piece at HuffPo's Science section this week, by Tanya Lewis: Mind Uploading' & Digital Immortality May Be Reality By 2045, Futurists Say. ...SNIPS:

NEW YORK — By 2045, humans will achieve digital immortality by uploading their minds to computers — or at least that's what some futurists believe. This notion formed the basis for the Global Futures 2045 International Congress, a futuristic conference held here June 14-15................................
By 2045, "based on conservative estimates of the amount of computation you need to functionally simulate a human brain, we'll be able to expand the scope of our intelligence a billion-fold," Kurzweil said...............................

Mind uploading~~~~The conference took a surreal turn when Martine Rothblatt — a lawyer, author and entrepreneur, and CEO of biotech company United Therapeutics Corp. — took the stage. Even the title of Rothblatt's talk was provocative: "The Purpose of Biotechnology is the End of Death."

Rothblatt introduced the concept of "mindclones" — digital versions of humans that can live forever. She described how the mind clones are created from a "mindfile," a sort of online repository of our personalities, which she argued humans already have (in the form of Facebook, for example). This mindfile would be run on "mindware," a kind of software for consciousness. "The first company that develops mindware will have [as much success as] a thousand Googles," Rothblatt said. But would such a mindclone be alive? Rothblatt thinks so. She cited one definition of life as a self-replicating code that maintains itself against disorder. Some critics have shunned what Rothblatt called "spooky Cartesian dualism," arguing that the mind must be embedded in biology. On the contrary, software and hardware are as good as wet ware, or biological materials, she argued. Rothblatt went on to discuss the implications of creating mindclones. Continuity of the self is one issue, because your persona would no longer inhabit just a biological body. Then, there are mind-clone civil rights, which would be the "cause célèbre" for the 21st century, Rothblatt said. Even mindclone procreation and reanimation after death were mentioned.

That's all very "skiffy". If predictions by would-be futurists from the past are anything to go by the date 2045, a mere 32 years ahead, will be found to have been decidedly optimistic. But in any case, is this the kind of thing the best and brightest scientific brains on the planet ought to be focusing on? How about lending a few genius-tinted thoughts to climate change, water shortages, new power sources? We need the best and brightest minds on these right now.

I'm the last one to criticise the human urge towards progress, but it does depend in which direction the progress would seem to be heading. A few with more fluent pens than mine have said something along those lines:

“Some upstarts always try to get closer to the source of creation by ascending to the source's level. The story of Icarus is of course a parable about the folly of such an effort. Get too close to the sun and your hubris will get you burned. Yet in the eyes of twenty-first-century capitalist culture, which worships at the twin altars of the individual and technology, Icarus had initiative. And his melted wings do not represent some deep character flaw; he just needed better beta testers.”
― Marcus Wohlsen, Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life.



“Progress is something with no pity, and no purpose. It just happens. It chews up all you ever knew, and spits out things you can't understand, and the only value it seems to have is to make a few people a lot of money.”
― Spider Robinson, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon.



“We have laboured long to build a heaven, only to find it populated with horrors.”
― Alan Moore, Watchmen.



“The farther you go, however, the harder it is to return. The world has many edges, and it's easy to fall off.”
― Anderson Cooper.



“After the monkeys came down from the trees and learned to hurl sharp objects, they had had to move into caves for protection--not only from the big predatory cats but, as they began to lose their monkey fur, from the elements. Eventually, they started transposing their hunting fantasies onto cave walls in the form of pictures, first as an attempt at practical magic and later for the strange, unexpected pleasure they discovered in artistic creation.
Time passed. Art came off the walls and turned into ritual. Ritual became religion. Religion spawned science. Science led to big business. And big business, if it continues on its present mindless, voracious trajectory, could land those of us lucky enough to survive its ultimate legacy back into caves again.”
― Tom Robbins, Villa Incognito.



“It would be advisable to think of progress in the crudest, most basic terms: that no one should go hungry anymore, that there should be no more torture, no more Auschwitz. Only then will the idea of progress be free from lies.”
― Theodor W. Adorno

BEAM ME UP Professor Higgs?

I managed to ignore this week's news about Higgs bosun for a while. Physics is a closed book to me, didn't do physics at school, or chemistry; I was one of those "other side of brain" students who found French, Latin, English literature and grammar easy-peasy, but could never get the hang of applied mathematics and science. Aquarian curiosity about Higgs bosun eventually overcame me though. I went looking for a "Noddy Meets Higgs Bosun" version of the theory. If I can (kind of) understand astrological theory on decans, duads, degrees, etc. maybe I'll find a way to understand some tiny part of Higgs bosun.
(Image credit: ATLASCERN)

This video helped :



In a nutshell: Higgs boson particle, elusive until recently, is what gives matter mass, it explains why we're here - or rather - how we come to be here.

A lot of time, money and expertise has been spent on this experiment. There must be reasons for it all, other than to complete a theory and add chapters to text books. What possibilities could this discovery open up? Any practical use at all?

Here's where I became really interested!

From
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48087875/ns/technology_and_science-science/

A century after Albert Einstein came up with his theories of relativity, a constellation of Global Positioning System satellites is orbiting Earth, making practical use of his ground-breaking understanding of time. If the discovery of the Higgs boson particle pans out, will even more mind-bending technologies result? Theoretically, it's possible, says Arizona State University physicist Lawrence Krauss; but practically, it's unlikely.

"If you could manipulate the Higgs field locally, you'd have a great 'Star Trek' device. You could make objects disappear. It'd be a great weapon, a great magic trick — if you could put things back together again," Krauss told Discovery News.

But how would you tweak the field, which is believed to be responsible for giving matter its substance?

"It's possible if you were able to heat up some region to something like a billion, billion, billion degrees, then in that region, the Higgs field would probably go away. Of course, by the time you heated things up to a billion, billion, billion degrees, everything would be gone anyway," Krauss said.

Consider the Star Trek transporter, a staple of science fiction for converting matter into energy, beaming it at the speed of light to a new locale, then reassembling the bits into their previous form.

Theoretically, manipulating a Higgs field would be one way to turn a person into energy and make them "disappear." The hard part would be putting them back together again.

"The only reason why the particles around us, and that make us up, are bound is because of the Higgs field," Krauss said. "They have mass. If the Higgs field were to go away, then the particles would all of a sudden move at the speed of light. "If I could manipulate a Higgs field, that would be a first step in making a transporter, but the only way I know of to manipulate the Higgs field is to heat the whole thing up to such an incredible temperature that it's not surprising you'd disappear anyway," he said.

Time travel is another theoretical prospect.
"If you were able to manipulate a Higgs field over a large region so that it had energy, it would be gravitationally repulsive. It would cause that region of the universe to accelerate and move things apart faster than light, which is pretty neat," Krauss said."The existence of Higgs makes it clear that you can get something from nothing. A Higgs field can produce space and time itself," Krauss said. "But it's hard to imagine a Higgs technology."

Half a century ago it would have been hard to imagine most things we now take for granted. I discount nothing, it could all be possible - one day.

Coincidentally we watched a VCR tape of the Star Trek Motion Picture the other evening. I was never a Star Trek fan, but husband found the tape in a junk store and told me I should try it...."You'll like it", he promised. I did too. Saw the "beam me up" thingie and enjoyed the overall plot involving Voyager 6 and the quest of alien entities to discover who made them. Echoes of Prometheus?

Sci-fi is fast becoming sci-fact before our eyes - well, almost. And this is what's truly exciting!

Prof. Peter Higgs (29 May 1929, Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK) : Sun in Gemini, Moon in Aquarius (whatever time he was born), Sun/Moon in harmonious trine in two Air signs known for mental acuity - and both in helpful sextile to Aquarius's ruler Uranus (the avant garde) at 12 Aries. I love it when a plan comes together, as George Peppard used to say, often, in The A Team).

Interestingly transiting Uranus is curently at 8 Aries, almost back to its position in the Professor's natal chart.

SCI-FI FRI ~ Dr. John C. Lilly & Altered States

After watching a DVD of the 1980 movie Altered States, an adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's only novel, I wanted to know more about the character who inspired the storyline: Dr John C. Lilly. His sensory deprivation research conducted in isolation tanks under the influence of psychoactive drugs like ketamine and LSD fuelled the novel and the movie. The film starred William Hurt, and was directed by Ken Russell. Ken Russell is known for his outlandish treatment of subjects, and after seeing what he'd made of Altered States, Chayefsky declined to put his name to it, so was credited under a pseudonym. We found the movie thought provoking, but rather overdone for the horror factor - what else would one expect from Ken Russell though?

Dr. John C. Lilly was known for his work on interspecies communication, especially with dolphins, as well as the development of an isolation tank, and research into altered states of consciousness. He was inspiration for the main characters in two movies, The Day of the Dolphin as well as Altered States.

Dr. Lilly, throughout a long career made significant contributions to psychology, brain research, computer theory, medicine, ethics, and interspecies communication. He was on the cutting edge of neuroscience, first to map the brain of chimpanzees. His brain mapping with acoustic, motor, and travelling waves predated today's state of the art by fifty years. He conducted research into electronic brain stimulation, dreams, schizophrenia, and punishment and reward systems, later published in several psychiatric journals.

While working at the National Institutes of Health on isolation, solitude and confinement, he invented the floatation tank, a tool to maximally isolate sensory stimulation to better understand what the mind does without exterior influence. NASA and other organizations have used his research. After ten years of tank research he was given the responsibility to experiment with LSD in the tank. The results of that study were reported and published. Dr. Lilly considered this documentation his most original work: "In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the mind, there are no limits"

Dr. John C. Lilly died on September 30th, 2001 .

Born January 6th, 1915, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. TopSynergy.com has his time of birth at 7:30. I'm not sure how reliable that is but will use it here....perhaps they calculated sunrise for January 6 in Minnesota, in which case rising sign and Moon degree would not be reliable, so I'll proceed with caution!



A stellium (tight cluster of planets) in Capricorn reflects his pull towards science. Capricorn relates strongly to science and all things structured. What differentiated Dr. Lilly from many other scientists, however, was his will to experiment with what some would call mysticism or less politely, New Agey drug-ridden issues. Uranus represents New Age, left-fieldy stuff, a willingness to contemplate those outer areas - areas "where the buses don't run". Uranus here is right at home in its modern sign of rulership, Aquarius.....and if this time of birth is anywhere near accurate it was in Dr. Lilly's first house of self. Uranus is in mildly helpful semi-sextile to the Capricorn cluster - and let's not forget that Aquarius and Capricorn share Saturn as ruler in traditional astrology, which makes for an easier blending of these particular neighbouring signs (or so I always think).

Additional Aquarius back-up comes from Jupiter, this planet also makes harmonious trine to Saturn (Capricorn's ruler and Aquarius's trad. ruler) in Gemini.

I reckon that little lot ties up his gravitation towards outlandish scientific experimentation.

WILL ASTROLOGY ONE DAY BE DECLARED A SCIENCE?

GUEST POST BY GIAN PAUL, IN BRAZIL

To be exact, one should say "re-declared a science" as astrology was considered to have been so in ancient, Babylonian times (the Sumer civilization of which we know very little).

But why is the question again permitted today? Last week I discovered that the ongoing intensive sunspot eruptions had reached Brazil (and not just the North- and South poles). This was amply announced by the press, and in particular a NASA sponsored publication on the internet: Spaceweather.com (very recommendable).

The possibility of electrical black-outs at this time, given the intensity of the sun's activity at any place in the world, was recently being indicated as probable. Last time this happened was some years ago in Quebec when the power grid there went down for several days and left some millions of Canadians without power. So while I was looking at the eerie spectacle of various lights (both 220 and 110 volt) in my house dancing and flashing and even the sounds and alarms of my computer changing from normal, I thought that probably it was better to shut down everything before there could be some damage.

I also feared that we might be without power for some days. And on one day the power went down indeed, fortunately for only about 2 hours. Then the lights came back, but with some flickering still going on in the stabilizer I use to protect computer and stereo equipement around here.

At the same time in recent days, as well as the news story about unusual sun-flare activity, there were also scientific reports coming out that cell-phones are accelerating the functioning of the human brain. No word about possibly causing cancer of course, as that would be disastrous for the Motorolas, Blueberries etc. of this modern world.




Now where is the "Astrology" in all that?

The sun-spot cycle is known since almost 200 years now to have a duration of around 11-12 years. The University of Zurich has kept these records. I used to observe the stockmarket and commodity cycles (Kondratieff's theory) and had found an interesting book in New York (where else?) written by a former director of CON - ED, (Continental Edison), David Williams was the author's name. This man had observed a correlation between the stockmarket, commodities and the blackouts his utility was periodically suffering (and the New Yorkers with it) - and the sun spot cycles. He also was a very competent astrologer, born in Leeds, England on September 20, 1897, Sun in Virgo, Moon in Cancer and Leo rising. He was a past President of the Astrologers' Guild of America and past President of the American Federation of Astrologers as well as a member of the N.Y. Academy of Sciences. Briefly, an interesting man...

Just one more non-astrological detail: Williams mentions in his book Financial Astrology (Library of Congress No. 82-073126) the correlation between El Ninho, that 12 year weather cycle observed by the Peruvians and which affects all sorts of things: fertilizer, formerly mostly fishmeal, hence the role of Peruvian fishermen, influencing commodities. In some years, when there are few anchovies, it's too expensive for generous application, crop yields consequently drop, prices go up etc.

The correlation for El Ninho and many other observable phenomena is the 11-12 years sun-spot cycle. And here comes now the astrological element:

Jupiter needs 11-12 years to rotate around the Sun. Could it be him who influences the Sun's radioactive and magnetic emissions? I firmly think so.

But there are other planets. Why, if Jupiter has an influence, would the other planets not have some influence of their own as well? Probably they do have, only the influence Jupiter has is likely predominant, given his weight and size and relative proximity to the Sun. To my knowledge no human so far has observed what influence on the Sun the other planets may have - or most probably do have.

One more step, for whom still has the patience to continue:

If cell-phones (emiting electromagnetic radiation similar to the sun's) are accelerating (and we do not yet know what else) the human brain, the sun's activity must do the same, and more intensely at, or close to, the peak of sunspot eruptions.

Is Jupiter's influence on humans therefore coming to us indirectly via the Sun, i.e. in the form of some cyclical 11-12 year extra, Jupiterian/solar stimulation?

If that is so, what about the other planets? They may as well "use" the Sun by imprinting some cyclicality onto the Sun's radiation and quantic emissions.

It sounds very complex. Maybe that's why so far nobody may have been able to scientifically observe and examine what I am intuitively proposing here. But if there is some truth to what is a bit summarily exposed here, one could well understand why periodically people "start revolutions" or even go to war. Even before Twitter, Facebook etc. existed, these events tended to be well coordinated, all over the world (e.g.May 1968).

And for the skeptics, that's where astrology, at least in some of it's parts, may again be proven to be a science, or not less of a science than so many other human endevours.

Not "Eureka!" but "That's Funny."

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but...... "That's funny."

Isaac Asimov is credited with that quotation. I wonder, will there ever be a "Hmmmm.....that's funny" moment for scientists regarding astrology?

A word appearing frequently in scientists' arguments about astrology is "artifacts". Artifacts, in the context of cognitive reasoning, are so-called fake effects (in this case astrological effects) which could have ordinary explanations. Whilst I can see how artifacts might account for some seemingly good results in pieces of astrological research, I fail to see how we can continue to be misled by them in astrology generally. Too many brilliant minds, and too many ordinary folk like me can see SOME of astrology working day by day. I check the status of my own beliefs regularly - there's a latent skeptical streak in my nature. Astrology would have been given the heave-ho by me long ago, had I sensed that there was nothing at all in it.

It seems to me that there's a parallel between discoveries about some herbal medicines and what might happen in the future in regard to astrology.

Herbs have been used as medicine, and for recreational purposes, as far back in history as it's possible to see, and almost certainly well beyond that. For example, cannabis is said to have been used in ancient middle-eastern countries, hemlock and belladonna were used as poisons in Greek and Roman times, and some believe that the holy drink of the ancient Aryans mentioned in the Vedas -- soma -- was a concoction involving ("magic"?) mushrooms.
(See here.)

The Foxglove plant had been used in folk medicines for centuries, some say as far back as the time of the Druids, before later pharmacists discovered that it contains digitalis, proven to be effective in treating some heart diseases. Similarly, the plant Feverfew, used in folk medicines, has been found to contain chemicals which do have ingredients which can produce effects observed by our ancestors, namely reducing fever or dealing with some kinds of headaches.

Whether our early ancestors came by their knowledge of the medicinal value of these plants by accident or by careful sampling, or whether specific knowledge had come to them from an unknown source, isn't recorded. We now know that there was validity in some of the ways they were using the plants. We are now able to understand the reasons why these plants proved effective, reasons which our ancestors would have been incapable of understanding or discovering.

A similar line of thought can be applied to astrology, its origins and its future. Scientists might discover one day an element as yet unknown, which we are as yet incapable of understanding. This unknown element could validate, at least in part, astrological principles.

Astrology continues, and will continue to be used because, as in the case of ancient medicines, it's not perfect, but observation and experience has shown sufficient positive results to put an indelible mark upon our memory.

Arty Farty Friday ~ Sir Alexander Fleming & Microbial Art

This has to be the weirdest Arty Farty Friday subject yet! Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish research scientist who, in September 1928, accidentally discovered what the Penicillium fungus he found growing on discarded petri dishes in his messy laboratory was capable of. His discovery and subsequent experiments were later taken up and elaborated upon by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain. Mass producing penicillin became a reality with funds from the U.S. and British governments. Mass production began after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; by D-day they had enough penicillin to treat all the wounded allied forces.
Wikipedia

But "where's the art?" I hear you cry.

I'll borrow from the Smithsonian website (order of some paragraphs changed to suit context of this post. Some parts bold-highlighted in connection with astrology and his natal chart): Painting with Penicillin - Alexander Fleming's Germ Art

In addition to working as a scientist, and well before his discovery of antibiotics, Fleming painted. He was a member of the Chelsea Arts Club, where he created amateurish watercolors. Less well known is that he also painted in another medium, living organisms. Fleming painted ballerinas, houses, soldiers, mothers feeding children, stick figures fighting and other scenes using bacteria. He produced these paintings by growing microbes with different natural pigments in the places where he wanted different colors. He would fill a petri dish with agar, a gelatin-like substance, and then use a wire lab tool called a loop to inoculate sections of the plate with different species. The paintings were technically very difficult to make. Fleming had to find microbes with different pigments and then time his inoculations such that the different species all matured at the same time. These works existed only as long as it took one species to grow into the others. When that happened, the lines between, say, a hat and a face were blurred; so too were the lines between art and science.

Fleming’s discovery of the effects of penicillin, the compound produced by the fungus, was a function of his eye for the rare, an artist’s eye. Other scientists had undoubtedly seen Penicillium growing on their petri dishes before Fleming, but they had thrown those dishes away as failures (In fact, both Chinese and Greek medicine had used fungus topically to treat bacterial infections for several thousand years). Not so for Fleming, who spent his life searching for outliers and the situations that favored them. The outliers were not lucky accidents. They were instead, for Fleming, the living art of discovery.

It is not clear why Fleming started painting microbes; perhaps he picked up a brush one day and noticed that it felt like the loop he used for his bacteria. Or maybe it was due to the promiscuous sexual predilections of artists. Fleming worked at St. Mary’s hospital in London, where he treated syphilis cases. Many of his patients were painters, and those painters sometimes gave Fleming paintings and perhaps even lessons in return for treatment. Fleming's palette grew richer with time as he found bacteria with the colors he needed. He found joy in discovering a strange new strain of bacteria, in the way that a field biologist might feel the same in happening upon some new and wondrous bird. He collected unusual life forms in the hope that one of them might someday prove useful.
Fleming was a self-taught artist; he had no real artistic training and so he painted what occurred to him. The paintings had little in the way of dimension or nuance and yet still had a vigor, heightened by the reality that they in fact were alive. As one breathed on the paintings, they breathed back.

One could view these paintings as just another manifestation of the strange ways in which scientists become obsessed (biologists have more than a fair share of quirky hobbies—miniature trains, headstone photography, broken glass collections). But as scientists have begun to reconsider Fleming’s story, it has become clear that these little paintings were more than art.

On that fateful morning, what Fleming actually discovered was, in a way, a version of one of his paintings. Each of the colonies of Staphylococci bacteria that he had inoculated on the plate had grown into a small shape resembling a planet or a star in a night sky. But there among his wild planets was something else, a larger, lighter body at the top of the dish, the Penicillium fungus. Around it the sky was dark, where the bacteria were dying. It was his masterpiece, his “rising sun,” the painting that would save more lives than any other discovery.

Fleming’s bacteria paintings have many descendants. A group of modern painters is using bacteria to produce all sorts of images. Glowing bacteria are used as a scientific tool. The most important descendant of Fleming’s artistic methods, though, are the thousands of modern scientists who, like Fleming, make discoveries by looking for the unusual.

Natal chart of Sir Alexander Fleming, data from Astrodatabank. I'm looking for emphasis on Saturn (science) and even more important in this context, Uranus, planet of the unexpected & invention. If Aquarius isn't highlighted in the chart, its modern ruler Uranus ought to be. Fleming's art isn't "great art", though Venus, planet of the arts and/or Neptune (creativity) ought to be well placed to endow the "artist's eye" which was possibly Fleming's most useful extra gift. Let's see.



Yes!! It's all there.

Saturn at 12 Taurus (ruled by Venus) in harmonious trine to Uranus at 12 Virgo.
Saturn is also conjunct Neptune at 16 Taurus.
Sun at 13 Leo semi sextiles (helpful) Uranus at 12 Virgo.

The main cluster of planets covers 12 Taurus to 1 Gemini, so Venus, ruler of Taurus is well to the fore, though the planet itself is some degrees away from the cluster at 29 Gemini.

Moon in Sagittarius lay in 6th house of service, as befits a scientist striving to help mankind.

Ascendant in mid-Cancer, a sign often connected to doctors and the medical profession, sextiles Neptune (creativity) in Taurus.

Below are the only examples I've found on-line, enough to give us a glimpse of Fleming's microbial art. For examples of microbial art by others see THIS website.

"The Human Spark"....lit by....?

There's a three-part series starting tomorrow evening on PBS: The Human Spark hosted by the always engaging Alan Alda (Aquarius Sun/Aries Moon/Capricorn rising, Saturn semi-sextile Sun)....who has been involved in TV presentations involving science in the past: Scientific American Frontiers. Saturn connects to science and rules his ascendant sign, co-rules his natal Sun.

The programmes, to be aired on three consecutive Wednesday evenings, are to investigate "How are we different from the other animals, how did we get that way, and where is it in the brain that these things have taken root?” (Here).

We'll be watching, and I'll no doubt be thinking....yes, but how does astrology fit into this? I'm convinced it must fit in - somewhere. I'm sure the subject will not be mentioned in these programmes! I can only assume that astrology's part in this would have to do with the precession of the equinoxes. There's an article by Deborah Houlding at Skyscript: Heavenly Imprints
from whence comes this extract about precession:

"....the Sun does not cross the equator at exactly the same place on the ecliptic each year. It crosses at a point 50 seconds of arc to the east of the previous year. During a lifetime this shifting point of intersection between the ecliptic and equator is so small as to be negligible, but over several centuries it will be noticed that the backdrop of stars that once lay behind the crossing point is moving westwards. This is the phenomenon of precession, caused by the Earth's axis slowly rotating around the celestial poles. Whilst the background of the fixed stars remain more or less constant to each other, the ecliptic's intersection with the equator slides backwards through the zodiac, completing one circuit in approximately 26,000 years - the 'Great Astrological Age'. The movement of the Vernal Equinox from one zodiacal sign to the next - by which we are presently moving from the Age of Pisces to Aquarius - is a subdivision of this cycle that takes approximately 2,160 years. "

There's information scattered around the internet relating to the Astrological Ages and how they relate to the zodiac signs, but much of it needs to be read bearing in mind its author's main interest, which can give varying perspectives. Diagram below comes from Library of Halexandria website.



Most agree that The Age of Gemini brought forth more travel and movement, leading to wider communication; and that the Age of Taurus saw farming flourish using tools and the wheel which had come out of the previous age. The Age of Aries - the expansion of ancient empires through force. The Age of Pisces spanning a few centuries BC until the present brought the dominance of three main religions Buddhism, Christianity and Islam - for good or ill.

Another common theme is that ancient Egyptians looked upon the Age of Leo as the beginning of their own history; that was around 10,950 BC. However, they already had "the human spark", so we need to travel further back to seek the likely time of its illumination. Age of Virgo, Age of Libra, Age of Scorpio? Age of Saggitarius, Age of Capricorn, Age of Aquarius ? And would we find our own, reversed, counterparts at the gateway to Age of Pisces ?

26,000 years for one go around - one Great Age. Was our human spark lit somewhere during this go around, or was it lying dormant from the previous one, or the one before that? Or is there a point in each Great Age when that special spark is lit? I wouldn't dare to guess at which point that might occur.

There are probably even Greater Ages beyond that which we call The Great Age, outside of our meagre comprehension. Lines from a hymn we used to sing at school come to mind. They always fascinated me then - it's only now I completely comprehend their significance. In the Great Scheme of Things 26,000 years is the blink of an eye to the universe as a whole.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Arthur M. Young - Inventor, Mathematician, Scientist, Philosopher, Mystic, Astrologer

Arthur M. Young was born in Paris, France, his American parents lived there at various periods, while his father, a landscape painter, studied Impressionism. I'm going to call Arthur M. Young AMY, from here on, for brevity and ease of typing. He was a mathematician and scientist first and foremost, and inventor of the first Bell Helicopter. It was later in life that he slid into philosophy, metaphysics, ESP, and even astrology. Shock horror -a scientist who was also an astrologer! Would that there were more of his ilk around today.

In Jeffrey Mishloves "An Appreciation of Arthur M. Young" he writes:

"Arthur was also a student of eastern mysticism and yoga.............. was a master of astrology, and he enjoyed demonstrating its value with reference to my own chart. He did so in the most uncanny ways."

There's a website dedicated to AMY. It includes some of his essays, several of which mention his study of astrology, in fact one is dedicated to the subject.

THOUGHTS ON A SCIENCE OF LIFE
Part III: On the Value of Astrology for a Science of Life
by Arthur M. Young (1992)
In summing up his essay, AMY wrote:

To sum up: The rejection of astrology by science is based on the belief of science that there is no way for planets to influence life. This belief is opposed by the practitioners of astrology, who find a factual correlation between the position of the planets and the dates of important events in life.

But the principles on which physics is based do not predict or even accommodate life. Life requires a narrow temperature range and a periodic alternation of this temperature, and hence a very special environment, requiring a planetary system with a certain type of sun. This makes life depend on contingency rather than law, and indicates that while the laws of nature are necessary to life they are not sufficient.

Since alternation (periodic change) of temperature is necessary to the evolution of organic life in plants and animals, it would seem that the evolution of consciousness, which has its inception in organisms which move against entropy, should for its completion require an alternation of longer period than the daily or yearly alternation of temperature. This is what the outer planets supply.

As for the question of how the planets can influence mundane events, this problem already exists in biological rhythms, which have been found to be endogenous; that is, not dependent on known physical influence

That, I can (just about) understand. I'm not going to pretend that I understand his Theory of Process , his studies of consciousness and suchlike. I don't. It's all way over my head. His Theory of Process relies on a kind of wave-like effect which he considers applies to everything in one way or another, because it's the origin of everything, starting with "Light"..... (I think!)



Ahem (too deep for me) - quickly turning to AMY's chart then - it's not my usual format, because I don't have that software on the laptop. It'll have to do!

We should find prominent Saturn/Capricorn(mathematics and science) Uranus/Aquarius (invention and maybe astrology) and Jupiter/Sagittarius (philosophy)

Arthur M. Young born on 3 November 1905 in Paris, France. Astrotheme gives his time of birth as 10.23am.



His Sun and Mercury in Scorpio remind me that Carl Sagan has these placements (but with even more Scorpio planets). As well as its reputation for eroticism, passion, paranoia etc. Scorpio has that incisive mentality (especially with Mercury there) which can cut through stuff which leaves the rest of us highly confused. AMY's Scorpio Sun closely trines mystic Neptune in Cancer - here's his draw to mysticism - a draw which Carl Sagan didn't have.

Aquarius Moon trines Jupiter in Gemini. The harmony between invention and philosophy in AMY's life is here, for Jupiter is ruler of Sagittarius (his rising sign, and therefore Jupiter is his ruling planet) and it is in very helpful aspect to his inventive Aquarius Moon.

Now we come to more of what I was expecting to see: Saturn in Aquarius, and....Uranus in Capricorn. Aquarius, Capricorn, Uranus, Saturn - there's a peculiar link here.
Aquarius and Capricorn were originally both ruled by Saturn, modern astrology places Uranus as ruler of Aquarius, and in AMY's chart the planets swap homes, with Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Capricorn. I'm not sure how that can be interpreted except that it's a conglomeration involving mathematics and science(Saturn and Capricorn) invention and astrology (Uranus and Aquarius) - all kind of related to one another by marriage (as it were), bringing together two very different realms. In addition Moon in Aquarius is in helpful semi-sextile aspect to Uranus in Capricorn - a further blending of the two realms.

So, all in all, AMY's natal chart, even from my minimalist take on it, clearly matches his chosen paths in life.

"Tackling" Astrology?

I'd decided not to post today - then I stumbled upon this.

"What is the best way of tackling astrology", on the Richard Wiseman blog. I arrived there quite by accident.

Why on earth should anyone have to "tackle" astrology? Astronomers and science-oriented skeptics have such arrogance!

A very brief extract from a BBC Radio 5 interview has been embedded on the blog. This doesn't give a very good impression of the astrologer's viewpoint, however. Wiseman keeps badgering her to say which astrological study she relies on to uphold her views. I reckon she should have responded that there has yet been no proper all-encompassing study of the subject in a way that computer technology would now afford. It's a pity that those who are so keen to deride astrology don't put their energy into conducting a wide study of the subject, in cooperation with those who understand it fully and using all available technology.

I haven't heard the whole interview, but the comments on this blog attracted, then repelled me.

The blogger, of course, is singing to a choir of lemming-like commenters. There is one comment from a Richard King (5.27pm on 28 May 2009)which warmed my rapidly freezing heart.

A brief extract

I was not wildly impressed with either side in the interview. Anything other than a dialogue with at least a degree of understanding and mutual respect for alternative views and ways seems rather pointless.
What is the best way of tackling astrology? That depends what is meant by tackling. If it is understanding and investigating, including “scientifically”, then discuss it with people who understand the subject. Similarly, any astrologers who wish to engage with science should discuss the matter with people who understand science.
The problem is that there are, obviously(?), huge differences in levels of understanding and capability on both sides

And from his closing paragraphs, a view which is very close to my own:

On the basis of my knowledge and experience, there is less to astrology than some proponents claim and more than mainstream science claims; though the general tenet of it fits with some rather high level science.

Thank you Mr. King!

Shaping the Future ~Stephen Wolfram & Ray Kurzweil

Stephen Wolfram, present-day genius, grown from child prodigy. At age 16 he published an article on particle physics, entered Oxford University age 17 and wrote a widely cited paper on heavy quark production at age 17. Wolfram's book "A New Kind of Science" has been highly acclaimed.

Mr Wolfram is currently engaged in the development of "the next big thing" for the internet: Wolfram Alpha, a program which will answer questions. It's reported to be unlike either Google or Wikipedia, which simply provide source information. The new application, due for unveiling in May, will actually provide answers to questions.
Stephen Wolfram's website.

Raymond Kurzweil, inventor, futurist, a pioneer in the fields of optical character recognition, text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He is the author of several books on health, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, the technological singularity, and futurism.

In his book "The Singularity is Near", Kurzweil explores his concept of exponential growth, radical life expansion, and how we will transcend our biology. Wikipedia reports that while being interviewed for a February 2009 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Kurzweil expressed a desire to construct a genetic copy of his late father, Fredric Kurzweil, from DNA within his grave site. This feat would be achieved by deploying various nanorobots to send samples of DNA back from the grave, constructing a clone of Fredric and retrieving memories and recollections - from Ray's mind - of his father. All very sci-fi indeed!!
Kurzweil Technologies website.

It was an article of Mr. Kurzweil's which discussed and argued with some of Mr. Wolfram's theories put forth in "A New Kind of Science" which led me to compare the natal charts of these two brilliant intellects.

I suspect that these two, if so minded, could between them solve the mystery of astrology (more on this later).

One thing these men have in common: they are both children of Jewish immigrant parents. The Kurzweils escaped to New York from Austria at the start of World War 2. The Wolframs emigrated from Westphalia to England in 1933. I often ponder of why it is that the Jewish race produced and still produces so many brilliant minds. DNA, I guess.

Anyway - the charts! I'm expecting to find Uranus and Saturn closely involved. Aquarius too. Uranus represents all things new and futuristic, technology, cybernetics etc. Saturn relates to the mathematics and disciplined thinking necessary to approach the subjects in which these men specialise. Aquarius is the modern home sign of Uranus, so is quite likely to be highlighted.

Let's see:

Stephen Wolfram born 29 August 1959 in London, UK.
Raymond Kurzweil born 12 February 1948 in Queens, New York.

I'm looking here only for factors relating to the topic at hand, not trying to fully interpret their personalities. The charts are set for 12 noon as no times of birth are available. We can't know the rising signs of the two men, nor the exact degree of the Moon, but there's enough here to suffice.





Stephen Wolfram has no Aquarius, unless from the unknown rising sign, and surprisingly no Air signs emphasised in his chart. What he does have though is Sun conjunct Pluto in Virgo, with Mercury conjunct Uranus in Leo, and Saturn in Capricorn in trine to Sun/Pluto. What does this signify? Sun and Pluto in Virgo - powerful, discerning intellect, incredibly close attention to detail, passion for anything he touches. Mercury conjunct Uranus: an inventive, potentially genius mentality.

Saturn in Capricorn, its own sign, trine Sun/Pluto: provides the structure and discipline to make the rest of this configuration work. Without this crucial harmonious link to Saturn, Mr. Wolfram might have developed into a haphazard genius eccentric who, in the end, achieved nothing.



Raymond Kurzweil's chart is nearer to the simple line-up I expected to see - Sun in Aquarius closely trining Uranus in Gemini. The two mentally oriented signs highlighted with Aquarius's modern ruler closely linked to the Sun. Mercury in mystical creative Pisces gives Mr Kurzweil a rather different mindset from Mr Wolfram's. The trio of planets in Leo, Pluto, Mars and Saturn are opposite Aquarius Sun, providing a balancing act between an inventive Aquarian Sun, the discipline of Saturn, power of Pluto and energy of Mars. Whereas Wolfram's conjunction blends Sun and Pluto, Kurzweil's opposition balances the two symbolic energies.
The same planets are highlighted in both charts in different ways, Pluto, Uranus and Saturn adding their strength to personal planets by aspect.

A couple more points worth noting: Mr.Wolfram currently has a Saturn transit to his Virgo planets, and a Pluto transit to his Capricorn Saturn - is there any wonder he has a new project ready for launching? Mr. Kurzweil had January's lunar eclipse hit his Sun/Saturn opposition; perhaps there'll be some extra interesting times ahead for him this year.

As for how the work of these two brilliant minds might, one day, affect astrology - this article is well worth perusal:
Planet Mandalas and a New Kind of Science:
The Relationship of the work of Stephen Wolfram and
Ray Kurzweil to Cosmic Cybernetic Theory
by David Cochrane

The Missing Ingredient

Steven Pinker, research psychologist and professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and author of "Words and Rules", HERE asks :

"What is the missing ingredient — not genes, not upbringing — that shapes the mind?"

Astrologers (and people like me) know the answer, but not exactly how the process works. Why not test a theory that broad astrological principles may be involved in the answer to this question? Astrologers, in cahoots with psychologists such as Professor Pinker, might discover much of value to both science and astrology .

Brief extracts:

"If genes have any effect at all, it must be total. But the data show that genes account for about only about half of the variance in personality and intelligence (25% to 75%, depending on how things are measured). That leaves around half the variance to be explained by something that is not genetic........................
...............growing up in the same home — with the same parents, books, TVs, guns, and so on — does not make children similar.

So the variation in personality and intelligence breaks down roughly as follows: genes 50%, families 0%, something else 50%. As with Bob Dylan's Mister Jones, something is happening here but we don't know what it is. (I say......"Or do we?")

Perhaps it is chance. While in the womb, the growth cone of an axon zigged rather than zagged, and the brain gels into a slightly different configuration. If so, it would have many implications that have not figured into our scientific or everyday way of thinking.................... "

And again...

David Sloan Wilson's article
"Are Liberals and Conservatives Different Species? The Answer is Yes" is an interesting read, but it also left me feeling really sad that astrology cannot command the $$$ required for an experiment such as the one he describes. If only more scientists would wake up, experiments like this one could be modified to take in birth data so that it could be analysed by astrologers. Dream on!

A few extracts:

For years I wanted to study people in the same way that I am accustomed to studying beetles and fish--not just in the laboratory, but also "in the field" as they go about their everyday lives. I finally found my chance when I met Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the famous psychologist who is best known for his work on peak psychological experience (Flow) and who pioneered something called the experience sampling method (ESM).

The ESM is simplicity itself. People are outfitted with devices that beep at random times during the day, prompting them to fill out a short questionnaire recording where they are, what they are doing, who they are with, and a checklist of psychological states on a numerical scale. Each beep is like a flash bulb that captures a snapshot of the individual's experience. Mihaly and others have used the ESM on thousands of people to study a variety of subjects. When I met him at a conference and began talking with him about the ESM, I immediately realized that it was the equivalent of field studies on other species. I therefore teamed up with Mihaly to use some of his past studies to ask questions inspired by ecological and evolutionary theory.

We began with a multi-million dollar project that Mihaly had conducted with sociologist Barbara Schneider to examine how young people prepare to enter the work force. Thousands of American high school students had participated nationwide by providing extensive background information and being beeped for a week, for roughly 50 snapshots of their individual experience.

With this as our "field study," we began to think about altruism and other do-good behaviors as a strategy that can succeed in some environments but not others. That story is recounted in a chapter titled "The Ecology of Good and Evil" in my book Evolution for Everyone.

Imagine the priceless information astrologers could glean from being included in an experimental survey like that one ~!

Two on-line discussions on science and astrology

I gave up contributing to message boards when I began to write my blog regularly, but yesterday wandered into an old favourite forum and found a very interesting discussion, so I lurked. Later, a couple of links led me on to another discussion in a second, unrelated forum. Both discussions were on the topic of science and astrology, they impressed me so much that I decided to link to them here. Perhaps a passing reader might be interested.

The first discussion is at "TRIBE" on the Astronuts astrology section, in a thread called "Scientific Astrology". There's a follow-up thread called "Astrological Research". Of particular note are contributions by poster nicknamed Spock, who later reveals himself as astrologer Dale Huckeby. I'd read some of his articles before, but most are at least 10 years old. It's nice to see him still in action, I admire his ideas.

The second discussion is at the Bad Astronomy and Universe Today forum (BAUT) - most members there there are no allies of astrology! The thread is called "Science and Astrology". Poster, Robert Tulip, who originated the discussion, gallantly puts forward his views of, and support for, some areas of astrological doctrine. His steady, polite, extremely well-informed and painstaking replies are a joy to behold, some sneering on-line retorts are not. Eventually, by the end of the thread, which runs from last December to March, one or two other participants express grudging admiration for the way he has handled the argument, if not agreement with his views. It's a long read, but I found it well worthwhile.